The manufacturers of motor vehicles design them to bend and crumple in certain ways during collisions. Proper design can drastically reduce the likelihood of people dying in a crash.
However, vehicles that experience significant damage can still cause catastrophic injuries to occupants. Crushing injuries can occur during collisions and often lead to broken bones and soft tissue damage, as well as extreme pain. Such injuries are also often be far more expensive than people initially anticipate.
Crushing injuries may lead to amputations
When a body part experiences the unique trauma caused by a crushing injury, the damage can be far worse than the injured person realizes. Bones can break into so many pieces that doctors cannot realistically repair the damage. Even if the injury seems self-contained initially, doctors may need to make the difficult decision to surgically amputate a body part after a crushing incident.
Although there have been cases where medical professionals have salvaged tissues following crushing injuries, doing so often requires multiple surgical procedures and months of pain for the patient. Additionally, someone could undergo multiple surgeries, only to have their condition worsen and an amputation occur anyway.
Those who suffer crushing injuries after a crash need to understand the prognosis for their condition. They should recognize the possibility that they will have to undergo treatment that will create functional limitations for the rest of their lives.
Understanding the likely impact of a crash injury may help people seek appropriate compensation after a wreck. Undervaluing the long-term costs of a crushing injury can burden a victim in ways that should rest squarely on the shoulders of the party that caused the crash in question.